Friend in the Night
by Teen Hero
Summary: [AU]Frankie goes to the roof of Foster's house one night and wonders how she is 26 years old and still hasn't done anything other than work with imaginary friends. When she starts feeling her lowest, a familiar face comes and comforts her.


Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends

Friend in the Night

By: Teen Hero

Summary: Frankie goes to the roof of Foster's house one night and wonders how she is 26 years old and still hasn't done anything other than work with imaginary friends. When she starts feeling her lowest, a familiar face comes and comforts her.

Francis Marie Foster, commonly known as Frankie, had just finished the chores that had been assigned to her that day by Mr. Harriman, the elderly rabbit that was the imaginary friend of her grandmother, Francis Lee Foster, her namesake. Bloo, an imaginary friend that had been at Foster's for a little over ten years, had caused a gigantic mess and for once it was completely by accident. Bloo would have even helped Frankie clean up the mess if he hadn't gotten sick. Frankie was greatful towards the blue blob anyway. In the years that Bloo had been there, he had matured greatly. Sometimes he was still a little vain and selfish, but not anywhere near to the degree he used to be.

Anyways, Frankie had just finished her chores and cleaning up the mess that had been made earlier. It had taken her the entire day to finish it and Mr. Harriman hadn't let her stop until everything was done. She had missed going out that night. It was just her and a few friends, both human and imaginary, going out to a few bars. Frankie hadn't turned into an alcoholic since her twenty-first birthday, but she did enjoy a good drink every once in a while. On this particular night, her very own grandmother had planned on taking the girl out. Even being in her early nineties, Madame Foster showed no sign of ever slowing down.

Completely and utterly exhausted, Frankie found that she still could not go to sleep. She placed all her cleaning utensils back in the cleaning closet and went up to the rooftop of her grandmother's house. She often went up there when she couldn't sleep and looked up at the stars. Tonight was one such night and she found herself leaning against the railing and staring at the tiny balls of light in the sky before she even realized she had been heading in that direction.

"They all look so beautiful," Frankie said to herself. "I bet if they were children, their parents would be so proud of them."

Frankie sighed as she said that statement. It made her begin to think about her own parents. Would they be proud of what she was and what she was doing with her life? Certainly not. Sure, she had finished high school and graduated. She even had top honors in her class but she hadn't really gone anywhere after that. She had spent so much of her time working at her grandmother's home that she had completely neglected furthering her education. By the time she realized this, she was twenty-six years old and had barely a penny to her name.

She also reflected on what working for Foster's had done to her love life. She had tried dating but since she lived with her grandmother in a house full of imaginary friends, her dates always had to pick her up there. They would always get weirded out by strangeness of the friends and it would always end up the same. They'd go out with Frankie for one date and then they'd never see her again. Many nights she had cried herself to sleep because of this, though she never told anyone about it. Eduardo, bless his kind heart, had known something was wrong with Frankie and had tried to talk with her about it. Frankie would only smile at the furry and purple monster then tell him that there was nothing to worry about. Eduardo, despite his usual naivety, knew better but he also knew that Frankie would talk about it when she was ready.

On top of all of that, there was the constant belligerence and being insulted by Mr. Harriman at every turn. The elderly rabbit meant well but in his blind ambition of satisfying Madame Foster with perfection, he had often insulted and berated others more harshly than he should have. No one dared corrected him about it, though, except maybe Bloo. The blue blob had a way of getting under Mr. Harriman's skin that no other person, human or imaginary, could. Frankie seemed to take the brunt of Harriman's abuse. She could never do anything right in his eyes and she didn't dare tell her grandmother about it. She had tried, once, but ended up talking about something else entirely different. Mr. Harriman had been Madame Foster's first true friend and had been by her side ever since she was about five years old. Frankie had no right to mess up a friendship like that, even if it meant she had to endure.

Frankie took another deep breath and sighed. A small guest of wind blew past and her shoulder length red hair waved in the air. She didn't have it up in the spiked ponytail she normally wore as she had opted to try something a little different that day. Many of the friends in the house had complimented her on how her hair looked. Even Mr. Harriman had noticed, though his acknowledgment of her hairstyle had been much less complimentary. She ran her fingers through it and closed her eyes.

"Why did I turn out to be such a failure," she said to the stars.

"You're not a failure," answered a voice from seemingly out of nowhere.

Frankie was startled and almost yelled before a hand clamped over her mouth from behind. She was completely terrified and didn't dare move or even breath. Then the voice spoke again.

"Sheesh. Relax, Frankie. It's just me," said the voice again, only this time it sounded extremely familiar. Whoever was behind Frankie removed their hand and waited for her to turn around.

"Mac? Is that you?" Frankie asked as she turned around to face her nighttime companion. Standing behind her was a young man she had become great friends with over the years, despite being eight years older than he was.

Mac had grown into a handsome young man over the years he had spent visiting Foster's. He had cut his hair shorter and it was more spiked, like Frankie's was when she had it in a ponytail. His body had grown from being small and child-like to fairly tall and lean. Mac was by no means a muscle man but his body suggested he was a great athlete, which he was. He had been the star quarterback on his high school football team and been a starting forward on the basketball team as well. Along with all of that he was a straight A student and had offers from almost every college in the country.

"At least someone will make their parents proud," Frankie thought to herself. After her initial shock of seeing Mac, Frankie finally spoke up again. "What are you doing here, Mac? It's late."

"I'm spending the night so I can take care of Bloo. You know how he is. His best buddy is the only one good enough to take care of him," Mac said with a smile. Frankie smiled to, for a brief moment. It was true that Mac was the only one Bloo would let take care of him when he was sick, at least the can't get out of bed sick. Mac and Bloo had developed a deep bond of friendship so strong that they were like brothers. Even if Mac hadn't imagined Bloo, Frankie imagined the two of them would still be best friends for the rest of their lives.

"So what are you doing up here all by yourself? Shouldn't you be asleep," Mac asked as he moved to join Frankie by the railing.

"Shouldn't YOU be asleep," Frankie said, hoping to dodge the question.

"I don't have to be. Tomorrow is Saturday. Even after the weekend is over, we have Spring Break after that so I've got a total of nine days off of school starting tomorrow."

"That's nice."

"You still didn't answer my question, Frankie."

"What question?"

"Why are you up here by yourself?"

Frankie sighed and turned her attention back to the stars. "I come up here to think sometimes. You know, about life and whatnot."

"So what are you thinking about tonight?" Mac asked curiously.

"About how totally and utterly useless I am," Frankie replied solemnly.

"Useless? What in the blue hell are you talking about?" Mac asked incredulously.

"Let's face facts, Mac. I'm just a glorified cleaning lady here. They could just have a maid do my job. I've been here most of my life, Mac. Don't get me wrong. I don't regret a moment I've spent here but sometimes I think that if I hadn't spent so much time here, I might have a better life than I do."

"The grass always looks greener on the other side, Frankie. That's just how life is. No matter how good or bad you have it, things always look better on the other side of the fence."

"You don't understand, Mac. You're still young. You have a lot of time to decide what you want to do with your life and make your family proud. Not like me," Frankie said with what had to be the millionth sigh that escaped her lips that night.

"Excuse me? Last time I checked, you're not THAT much older than me...Francis," Mac said with a devilish grin on his face. He only called Frankie by her given name when he wanted to get a rise out of her.

Frankie, whether she noticed Mac's attempt to get a rise out of her or not, didn't take the bait and just kept staring at the stars.

Mac sighed himself and put a hand on Frankie's shoulder. This prompted Frankie to turn her head and look Mac in the eye. It was still strange to her that the little boy who barely managed to come up to her knees all those years ago was now a few inches taller than she was.

"Listen, Frankie. You are NOT a failure. I don't want to hear you tell yourself otherwise," Mac said in a firm but gentle voice.

"If I'm not a failure, then please tell me about something I've accomplished that actually means something," Frankie said as a tear started to creep up into the corner of her eye. She sniffed and wiped the tear away before it had a chance to fall.

"Alright. How about the fact that you are giving an old woman, who is shunned by the rest of her family for having opened her house to any imaginary friend who needs a place to stay, the love that every old person deserves from their grandchild?"

"That's different, Mac. She's family. How could I not do it?"

"Alright then. What about a certain person I know who brings the imaginary friends of Foster's to the local orphanage every Saturday afternoon so that the children have friends to play with other than the other children in the orphanage? What about a person I know who does the same thing for an old folks home for the old people whose families never visit them? I also seem to recall there's a certain person that despite the constant badgering from an old, has his panties in a twist rabbit, keeps doing the job she promised her grandmother she would do. On top of that, I seem to remember that this person graduated from high in the top of her class and could go back to school anytime she wanted to better herself. Tell me, Frankie. Does that sound like a failure to you?" Mac asked.

Frankie was on the verge of breaking down and crying by the time Mac had finished. She pulled Mac into a tight embrace and started to sob into his shoulder. All the years of feeling sorry for herself and thinking that she was useless and a failure finally came out in a constant stream of tears. Mac returned the embrace and patted her on the back.

"It's alright, Frankie. Just let it out," Mac said gently. Frankie did indeed let it out and she cried into Mac's shoulder for almost fifteen minutes. When she finally stopped, Mac's shirt was soaked where her head had been resting.

"Oh, Mac. I'm sorry. I got you all wet didn't I?" Frankie said as she wiped her eyes on her sleeve.

"What? This? This is nothing," Mac said with a smile. "At least it isn't snot from a blue blob sneezing on you."

Frankie managed a smile when Mac said that. She could picture the sight of Bloo sneezing on Mac and the young man being covered in saliva and snot. It was kind of gross, but funny all the same.

"Thanks, Mac. Thank you...for being there for me," Frankie finally said after things had gone silent for a while.

"Don't mention it," Mac replied.

"No, really. I want to properly thank you for being there for me. I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't come out here to talk to me."

"You weren't thinking about..." Mac said as his head in Frankie's direction, his eyes widened in horror.

"Of course not! I'm neither an idiot nor am I that depressed," Frankie said in annoyance. "I just mean that I probably would have become one of the depressed zombie-like people you see on those Lifetime TV movies all the time."

"Well, you really don't have to thank me, Frankie."

"But I want to. I just wish I knew how I could do it."

"Alright. How about a kiss then," Mac said with a smile. He was completely joking of course but he said it in a such a way that he sounded serious. He was going to wait and see how long it took Frankie to see he was joking.

"Wh...what? A kiss?" Frankie asked incredulously

"Yep. On these smackers right here," Mac said pointing to his lips.

"O...okay," Frankie said. She moved towards Mac and looked up into his eyes.

When Mac saw the look in Frankie's eyes, he completely forgot that he had been joking with her about the kiss. All of a sudden, he realized, he really did want Frankie to kiss him. It scared him a little bit and he gulped as Frankie started getting closer to him. When Frankie closed her eyes, and Mac knew for sure that she was gonna kiss him, he blushed so red that Wilt would have looked white next to him. Frankie finally closed the gap between herself and Mac and pressed her lips against his.

It was a very light kiss at first. Mac held his breath and could decide if he should push away from Frankie or pull her into an embrace and deepen the kiss. His male instincts took over and he decided on the latter. He pulled Frankie into a tight embrace and deepened the kiss. Frankie was surprised but she didn't open her eyes...at least not until Mac shoved his tongue into her mouth.

Frankie gasped into Mac's mouth when he French kissed her. Mac sensed something was the matter and immediately stopped.

"What's the matter, Frankie?"

"You...you stuck your tongue in my mouth," Frankie said.

"Oh. You didn't like it. I'm sorry," Mac said as he let go of her. "I...shouldn't have done that."

"No! It's alright, Mac. I...I liked it," Frankie said as she blushed a deep crimson.

"Really?"

"Y...yes."

"Do you want to kiss again?" Mac asked a little more boldly than he would have a few minutes before.

Frankie's only reply was a silent nod of her head. Mac pulled her into another embrace and started to kiss her again. This time, Frankie was the one who put her tongue into his mouth. Mac would have smiled if his mouth hadn't been currently occupied. The two of them stayed like that for several minutes until they finally broke apart when they realized they hadn't been breathing the entire time. Their breathing sounded like they had been running a long distance and had suddenly came to a stop. When their breathing finally settled down, Mac began to say something.

"Frankie. There's something I have to say. I've been meaning to say it for a long time but I've never been old enough to say it until now."

"What do you mean, Mac?" Frankie asked though she was pretty sure what he was going to say. The thought of it just made her blush again.

"Frankie...I've had...feelings for you for a long time now. Ever since I first started coming to Foster's, I've had a crush on you. I don't know if you've ever noticed it before. I did hide it pretty well. Mostly because Bloo would have never stopped pestering me about it," Mac said with a smile. "Of course, I also hid it because you were older than me. You know how every boy has that fantasy woman? You know, the older, unattainable woman who's pretty, smart, funny, and is everything you could want? That's what you were to me, Frankie. You still are."

Frankie didn't know how to respond to that. Her initial reaction was to blush like mad and she had even almost fainted. Mac still had her in his arms, though, so she didn't get very far to the ground. When she recovered enough from her brief faint spell to speak, she found that words weren't coming to her as easily as she would have liked.

"Mac...I...don't know what to say. I mean, I've never thought of you in that way before."

Mac sighed and closed his eyes. If his eyes had been open, Frankie would have seen the sadness and loss of hope in his eyes.

"I know. I didn't expect you to feel the same way. I just thought I should tell you," Mac said as he started to let go. Frankie, however, held on to Mac and this caught him by surprise.

"Mac...I said I didn't think of you in that way BEFORE. It doesn't mean I don't now."

"Huh?"

"Mac," Frankie began, "I've noticed how handsome you've become. How much you've grown as a person and how much you care for others. That much was evident when you were still just a boy. Even though you've grown up and you're a man now, you still retain the qualities you had as a boy that made me want to have you as my friend. Mac, I do have feelings for you. I guess I just didn't know it until now."

For several minutes, neither of them said anything. They just stood there in each others' arms under the night sky. Mac was the one who finally broke the silence.

"Let's go inside," he said.

"Alright. Follow me," Frankie said. She silently led them through the house so as to not wake anyone up. When they reached the destination that Frankie was going to, Mac saw that it was her room. His heart rate quickened at the thought of what it meant to be inside of a girl's bedroom. Surely she wasn't bringing him there for that. He had, inside his mind, secretly hoped for something like this for quite a few years now but he had never actually expected it to happen. Frankie opened the door and beckoned Mac inside. He went in and Frankie closed the door behind them and locked it.

Frankie went over to her bed and sat down. She patted her hand on a space next to her, signaling that she wanted him to sit down beside her. Mac gulped but he walked over to the bed and sat down next to Frankie.

"Mac...have you ever...been with a girl before?"

"Huh?"

"Are you a virgin, Mac?"

Mac was surprised that Frankie had the courage to ask him that question and he was equally surprised he had the courage to give her an honest answer. "Yes."

"I guess that's something we have in common then," Frankie said.

"Huh? You're a virgin?" Mac asked a little surprised.

"What? I look like someone who just throws herself out there," Frankie said with a little anger in her voice.

"No! No! I didn't mean it like that. I just meant that, you know, I figured you would have been with somebody by now."

"I know. I know. I didn't mean to snap at you. No, I haven't been with anyone. I've never really had the time to be honest," Frankie said. Mac could totally understand that. Considering all the work that Mr. Harriman gave Frankie, he was surprise she ever had any free time to herself at all.

"So...what now?" Mac asked.

"We just do what comes naturally," Frankie said as she grabbed Mac and pulled him down on top of her. She pressed her lips against his and immediately shoved her tongue into his mouth. Mac returned the kiss and the two of them quickly worked themselves into a frenzy. Mac's hands wandered down to Frankie's chest and he massaged her breasts through her shirt.

"Oh!" Frankie moaned. Mac sat up for a moment, straddling Frankie by the hips. He lifted his red shirt and white undershirt up over his head revealing a well chiseled and toned torso. Frankie marveled at the sight before her and ran her hands over Mac's chest.

"You're turn, gorgeous," Mac said with a grin. He moved to the side so Frankie could sit up and start removing her clothing. Frankie took off her favorite green jacket and tossed it on the floor which was quickly followed by her white t-shirt. Mac's eyes widened when he saw she was wearing a black lace bra.

"Well, well. Looks like I've found who's been keeping Victoria's secrets," Mac said with a smile. Frankie blushed madly at that comment. "Is it the same thing downstairs?" Mac asked seductively.

Before Frankie could say or do anything, Mac had reached down and unbuttoned Frankie's shorts. He then unzipped them and, using both hands, slowly started sliding them down. Frankie lifted herself off of the mattress of the bed to help him and soon they were all the way off and tossed on the floor with the rest of her clothes. Frankie was now in nothing but her bra and panties and the "downstairs," as Mac had referred to it, was indeed the same as Frankie's "upstairs."

Frankie was blushing like crazy and despite what was about to happen between the two of them, she couldn't help but try and cover herself up a little.

"Am I...pretty?" Frankie asked nervously.

"You're gorgeous," Mac replied. "I guess it's only fair you get to see the rest of me, too."

Mac stood up by the side of the bed and worked himself out of his pants. He was clad only in his boxers then and Frankie could clearly see the large bulge developing in between his legs.

Mac moved over to Frankie and asked her to turn away from him. Frankie complied with Mac's request and waited for him to do whatever it was he was going to do. Mac unclasped Frankie's bra and tossed it to the floor. Frankie's bare breasts were exposed and the slight chill in the air made her nipples harden with anticipation.

"I suppose there is one thing I'm glad my older brother was around for," Mac said with a smile as he placed his hands on Frankie's shoulders.

"And what's that?"

"He taught me how to please a woman," Mac said with a smile.

They made love well into the night. By the time they stopped, both were drenched in sweat and could hardly breathe anymore. Mac held Frankie in his arms as she rested her head on his chest. He looked down at her and smiled.

"I love you, Frankie."

"I love you to, Mac."

"Let's get some sleep," Mac said as he kissed Frankie on the forehead. She smiled and kissed his chest before settling down for a good night's sleep. They'd have a heck of a lot to explain the next morning when they would be awoken for breakfast, especially considering the compromising position they were in, but neither of them cared. They had each other and that's all that mattered.

The next morning had gone almost exactly as they thought it would. By pure and simple luck, Mr. Harriman had actually sent Bloo to wake Frankie up since it was his turn to make breakfast. Bloo had been feeling a lot better since last night as it turned out it was only a twenty-four hour bug. Bloo was wondering where Mac had went but he figured he was somewhere in the house and he'd see him at breakfast anyway. He walked up to the door of Frankie's room and knocked on it with his arms, seeing as how the blob didn't actually have hands though he could hold things as if he did. When no answered, Bloo called out Frankie's name. Still nothing. Finally Bloo took the key that Mr. Harriman had given him in case he couldn't wake Frankie up by knocking on the door. He put the key into the keyhole and turned. There was a barely audible click that indicated the door was now unlocked. Bloo turned the doorknob and slowly opened the door. He started to call out Frankie's name before his eyes went wide in shock.

Bloo saw Mac and Frankie lying in bed together, apparently naked. His eyes scanned the floor and he saw clothes that belonged to both Frankie and Mac lying on the floor. Bloo's eyes went back up to Mac and Frankie and saw that both of them were smiling like idiots. It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out what had happened.

"Well I'll be damned. It's about time my old buddy made a move," Bloo said with a smile once the initial shock had worn off. "I mean, it was SO obvious," Bloo added.

He stood in the doorway for just a few more minutes as he decided whether or not he should wake them up. Being Bloo, he decided that he'd just go ahead and wake them up to see what their reaction was. He took out a whistle that he had been carrying around with him since he'd won it off Wilt in a card game and stuck it in his mouth. Then he blew. Hard.

Mac and Frankie woke up with a start, both sitting up in bed looking around for the source of the noise. Frankie had grabbed the covers and covered her chest just in time to keep whoever it was making the noise from seeing her breasts.

"Well, well. Look at what we have here," Mac and Frankie heard an all too familiar voice say. "It looks like my main man here finally made a move."

"BLOO!" Mac cried out. "What are you doing?"

"Harriman sent me to wake Frankie up for breakfast. You guys are SO lucky that it's Harriman's turn to cook or you'd be in some real trouble," Bloo said as he tried to suppress the snickers that were threatening to come out.

"Bloo...you have to promise you won't tell anybody, okay? We want to tell everybody we're together but we want to do it when we're ready," Frankie pleaded, hoping for once that Bloo would listen.

"Yeah. Yeah. I promise. I wouldn't rat out my good buddy, Mac," Bloo said with a grin. Bloo turned to leave but before he was all the way out of sight, he turned back around to face Mac and Frankie. Then, in typical Bloo fashion, he said, "In exchange for my silence, I expect every child you two have to have the middle name 'Bloo.'"

"BLOO!" Both Mac and Frankie yelled.

"All right, already. I'm just joking. Sheesh." Then Bloo left down the hall, humming "Let's Get it On" loud enough for Mac and Frankie to hear.

"So when are we gonna tell everybody," Frankie asked Mac as they started to get dressed.

"I was thinking after breakfast," Mac said. "Go ahead and get it out in the open."

"Yeah. That's probably for the best. I don't want to have to be sneaky about this. I swear Harriman was a detective in another life."

Mac laughed at that. Once the elderly rabbit started to look for something, he didn't stop until he found it and it never took him very long to do so.

"Let's go then. You should probably go ahead of me. I'll come in a couple of minutes after you so no one suspects anything," Mac suggested as his put on his final piece of clothing, his red shirt.

"Alright. I'll see you in a little bit...sweety," Frankie said with a smile as she kissed Mac on the cheek before she left.

Breakfast went on as it normally did in Foster's house. Eduardo noticed that Bloo, Mac, and Frankie all kept glancing back and forth at each other and he could only wonder as to what kind of trouble one or all of them had gotten into. He figured he'd find out sooner or later so he just went back to his breakfast of hash browns.

Once breakfast was over and everyone started to leave the table, Frankie stood up and tapped a glass on the table with her fork to get everyone's attention. When she was sure she had it, she began to speak.

"Excuse me, everyone, but I have an announcement to make."

"This had better be important Ms. Francis," Mr. Harriman said.

"It's important to me and I think everyone in the house should know about this. They'd find out sooner or later anyway," Frankie replied. "As I was saying, I have an important announcement to make."

"And that is..." Bloo said with a grin, knowing full well what Frankie was going to say.

"Well...Mac and I...we..." Frankie started to say but she suddenly couldn't find the words. Mac came to her rescue though. He took her hand in his and kissed her cheek.

"Frankie and I are together," Mac said with the biggest grin he ever had.

"WHAT!" cried out the voices of everyone seated in the dining room.

"It's true. We're together," Frankie said as she took Mac's other hand into her own.

"When did this happen," Madame Foster spoke up. Truth be told, she had always seen the signs between Mac and Frankie but had decided to stay out of her granddaughter's love life.

"Well, last night, Frankie and I couldn't sleep so we started talking and we eventually confessed how we felt about each other," Mac replied, conveniently leaving out the part about their lovemaking.

"Congratulations, you two," Wilt said as he raised his glass of orange juice. "Here, here. To Mac and Frankie."

"Sí. To Señor Mac and Señorita Frankie," Eduardo said raising his own glass. The rest of the friends at the table all raised their glasses containing their various drinks and toasted Mac and Frankie's relationship.

Mr. Harriman started to stand up to say something in protest but Madame Foster quickly whacked him on the head with her cane.

"Madame? What was that for?" The elderly rabbit asked rubbing his head with a gloved hand where Madame Foster had hit him.

"Oh leave the two lovebirds alone, Harriman. True love only comes once in a lifetime...and I can think of no one who deserves it more than my granddaughter," Madame Foster said with a huge grin.

Well that's the end of my "Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends" one-shot. I hope you all enjoyed it. I plan on writing a sequel in the future that will be about Mac and Frankie getting married. I'd really like some feed back on that. Anyways, thanks for reading. I hope to hear from you guys soon!


End file.
